Black Hound

Sightings of the Black Hound have been reported all over England since the early 1500’s up until the present day. The Black Hound is often described as an abnormally large jet black dog the size of a cow or a bear, with large claws, fangs, matted or shaggy fur and glowing red eyes.

Many believe the Black Hound to be a beast, however as folklore goes the Black Hound is believed to be a phantom or ghost dog.  Most common sightings of the Black Hound are at points that act like boundaries such as gates, fences, hedges, bridges, roads, paths and many sightings at graveyards and burial grounds.

Folklore claims that the Black Hounds travel leylines, these are essentially paths that the spirits are said to travel. In old folklore the leylines are said to connect graveyards and lead to the spirit world. The Black Hound is seen as an omen of death.

There are lots of stories about Black Hounds terrorising villages and attacking travellers, not many of which report sounds from the beast that are out of the ordinary, however some have reported a terrifying howl and even that the hound was  maniacally laughing.

Accounts of the Black Hounds attacking aren’t uncommon. Suffolk, UK 1577, one Sunday it is claimed a Black Hound made its way into a church, two men who were touched by the beast fell down dead and a third man seemed to have died from severe burns.

Another account tells also of a Black Hound entering a town hall and physically killing two men before escaping.

 Even now there are common sightings of the Black Hound. In 2003 a teenager reported seeing a Black Hound when on his way home around midnight, apparently the hound was seen lurking around the bottom of a tree next to a hedge (boundary) and was described as a large Black Hound with matted fur just a little smaller than a cow.